Last night was my last night in Irvine. Despite the place' (I won't even call it a city) oddity and lack of night life, I have had several occasions of real fun, because it is so much more fun to hate something together than hate something alone. And when you can't really do anything in Irvine, you either go somewhere else (snowboarding) or try to have fun anyway (road trip to LA). Or you just hang out with fellow grad students and watch movies.
As usual when it comes to my travel escapades, I meet some of the most interesting and nice people right before I have to leave. Or people realize that I am leaving and start thinking I am more interesting. The same thing happened last night, and I wondered if I should perhaps next time, plan on staying a little longer than 6 months. Next time I go somewhere, it will be for at least a year. That way I will hopefully make some friends that I don't have to hug goodbye and just assume that I will perhaps see sometime at a conference somewhere. I was trying not to cry as I drove home through the quiet Friday night in Irvine, but didn't really succeed. And I knew exactly what it was. It was the frustration over once more having to leave a place, with people I liked, habits of what to do, knowing where the good coffee shops are and just generally having a life. Although I knew that I had a life in Denmark, a very good one even, it was hard to look forward when leaving so much behind. At the end of the night, I thought about how I should remember to appreciate every place I go, no matter if when I have to leave again.
Posted by Louise at March 27, 2004 08:53 AM